Lake Stevens district settles claim over student who died

LAKE STEVENS — The Lake Stevens School District has paid $500,000 to settle a legal claim filed by the family of a 20-year-old special-needs student who drowned in the Lake Stevens High School pool May 31.

Attorneys hired by the family filed the claim in September, asking for $7.5 million, according to documents obtained by The Herald under state public records laws.

Fedrick Nifasha, a refugee camp survivor from Tanzania, was in a school district program that focused on helping older students with developmental disabilities enter the workforce and learn life skills.

The school district earlier said that students were getting into the pool at the beginning of a physical education class when a teacher noticed one was missing. The teacher and the school aquatics manager, a certified lifeguard, both were at the pool at the time.

Nifasha was pulled from the pool and rushed to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, where he died after spending a week on life support.

“We continue to express our heartfelt apologies for the loss of Fedrick,” Lake Stevens School Superintendent Amy Beth Cook said in a prepared statement. “We worked with the Nifasha family, and their attorney, in a private and respectful process to come to an agreement that provides them support.”

The family’s attorney, Sim Osborn, on Tuesday said the settlement should have been higher, but was limited by state laws regarding wrongful deaths.

He commended the school district for working with the family. The district helped the family understand what went wrong that day, Osborn said.

“We fought very hard for this family,” he said. “It’s important that we keep schools responsible for their actions. Those parents would return that check in a heartbeat for their son, but they can’t. This settlement validates our belief that the school district fundamentally failed to protect Fedrick.”

As part of the Oct. 21 settlement, the family agreed to waive their rights to file future lawsuits regarding the death. The documents say $10,000 of the settlement must be set aside for each of the young man’s six siblings.

The district was not required to pay the family’s legal bills, except for some court fees. The family’s attorneys received $151,666 of the settlement money, the documents show.

A family spokesman in June said Nifasha had survived a previous brain surgery for epilepsy. He hadn’t had a seizure in years. He was a source of joy and inspiration to his family. They’d immigrated to the U.S. in part to get him better medical care.

He attended Lake Stevens and Jackson high schools.

The family previously lived in a refugee camp in Tanzania after violence drove them from their home in Burundi. Nifasha’s father, a phlebotomist, lived in the camp for decades, Osborn said.

Nifasha could not swim. He spoke Kirundi, the native language of Burundi, and also some Swahili. He could understand some English but didn’t speak it well, according to the family.

A memorial service was held in Everett in June.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449, rking@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.